Okay, I don’t do the political thing here. Why not? Because this is a semi-professional blog. Semi. And being even semi-professional, this is kind of like work. And you don’t talk politics at work. It’s tacky. You don’t swear at work. It lacks class. And the last person I would have expected to forget that is Sally Field.

If you know me, which most of you who read this blog do, you know I ride that line between conservative and liberal. I have my own unique brand of “I wouldn’t do it, but I don’t think I have the right to say you can’t,” thing going. So I agree that Sally Field has the right to disagree with the war. I agree that Kathy Griffin doesn’t have to believe in Jesus. However, to go off in an Emmy speech (or, as I’ve ranted about before, the Dixie Chicks slamming the president at a concert) is tacky. It lowers my opinion of people. I can’t watch a Sean Penn movie after his Oscar speech. Susan Sarandon? Tim Robbins? I used to LOVE Bull Durham, but after those two got all “more leftist than thou” and Kevin Costner just became an idiot, I can’t watch it. Used to love the Lethal Weapon movies. Then Mel Gibson’s true colors were revealed and Danny Glover became a Venezuelan dictator’s best bud, and those are out. So goes my opinion of an actress I used to respect quite a bit. If Sally Field believes it’s appropriate to make an anti-war speech during an acceptance speech, let alone swear, that’s like me coming to work and doing the same thing. Tacky.

I don’t like her. I really, really don’t like her. Anymore.

HOWEVER – Yes, all of you ready to smack me, I have a flip side of the coin.

I sat down with three 4th grade boys last week in my Cub Scout Den. We talked about what it means to be a good citizen and how we can all go about doing that. The point that resonated the most with them was this:

Even if you disagree with what a person is saying, it is your responsibility as an American citizen to let them say it.

So bleeping Sally Field? Oooohhh… bad juju on the network for that. While I may find the statements tacky, she has every right in the world to say it. The bleeping has gotten out of control. What is this, 1950? Are we looking to take away every step we’ve made in the pursuit of free speech? And no, I’m not contradicting myself. I would not personal make a statement, moral or political, in one of my books. Would I deny anyone else that right? Heck no! That’s what makes this one of the best places in the world to live. And while I may disagree with what someone is saying or, more accurately, where they choose to say it, dissention can lead to wonderful new paths of thought no one could have reached if we all agreed about everything.

So Sally, I lost respect for you. Not because of what you said, but because of where you chose to voice your views. And how you chose to do it. You’ve got money. Buy an ad! Then Network Big Brother can’t bleep you!

Then again, if Windows XP doesn’t stop trying to reboot my computer in the middle of every other sentence, I might be doing some swearing at work, too.